On March 20, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued Executive Order (EO) 2020-10, directing all residents to stay at home except as necessary for essential activities and government functions and to operate essential businesses. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the executive order and its impact on Illinois employers.
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York have all issued statewide shelter-in-place orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and more states may follow. Employers that do not qualify for an exemption under the applicable state order or that decide to severely curtail or shut down operations may want to consider some of the following issues.
On March 20, 2020, Illinois joined California, New York, and Pennsylvania in issuing a sweeping closure order to contain the spread of COVID-19. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued Executive Order 2020-10, Executive Order in Response to COVID-19 (COVID-19 Executive Order No. 8), directing “all individuals currently living within the State of Illinois . . . to stay at home” except as necessary for “Essential Activities, Essential Government Functions, or to operate Essential Businesses and Operations.”
The Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (WTA) (Public Act 101-0221) is designed to protect employees, consultants, and contractors who truthfully report alleged unlawful discrimination and harassment or criminal conduct in the workplace by prohibiting nonnegotiable confidentiality obligations, waivers, and mandatory arbitration of allegations of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
Now a little more than one month into the new year, Illinois employers are under pressure to comply with several new laws increasing protections against discrimination and harassment. Among them, amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act require employers to provide sexual harassment prevention training before December 31, 2020, and each calendar year after that. New guidance published January 31, 2020, by the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) clarifies key aspects of the new law.
In 2020, a number of states’ minimum wage rates will increase. The following chart lists the states’ (and certain major localities’) minimum wage increases for 2020—and future years if available—along with the related changes in the maximum tip credit and minimum cash wage for tipped employees. The federal minimum wage will remain at $7.25 per
In order to address employer concerns regarding the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, the Illinois General Assembly amended the Act via a trailer bill, Senate Bill 1557, during the fall legislative session. On December 4, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed the legislation into law as Public Act 101-0593. The changes took effect with the governor’s signature.
It’s time for employers to start preparing for legislation recently signed into law in Illinois, the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act. The new law, which takes effect on January 1, 2020, regulates Illinois employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the interview and hiring process.
Our June 2019 article “discussed four new bills targeting equity, transparency, and discrimination, including the Workplace Transparency Act (WTA), which was awaiting the signature of Governor J.B. Pritzker. As expected, Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 75—a sweeping piece of legislation that places new restrictions on Illinois employers and is designed to prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
Every private construction project in Illinois will be affected by a new law, effective immediately. The Contractor Prompt Payment Act (815 ILCS 603/1, et seq.) was amended to restrict the use of retainage on construction projects.
As we previously reported, the Illinois legislature passed House Bill 834 and Governor J. B. Pritzker signed the bill into law. It will become effective September 29, 2019. The new law prohibits employers from requesting or requiring prospective employees to provide their salary histories as a condition of being considered for employment.
Employers, you see this movie all too often. You tolerate, and then ultimately discharge, a poor-performing employee who displays a bad attitude. Unfortunately, supervisors have not documented the employee’s prior instances of insubordinate and adversarial behavior. In addition, he hurt himself on the job, filed a workers’ compensation claim, and presented medical restrictions. In his mind, he cannot believe that he was the problem. So he sues, alleging that you failed to accommodate his disability and unlawfully terminated his employment.
On July 24, 2019, the Chicago City Council passed the most sweeping predictive scheduling ordinance in the country to date. Effective July 1, 2020 (January 1, 2021, for “safety-net” hospitals), the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance will require 10 days’ advance notice of work schedules for certain workers in the building services, healthcare, hotel, manufacturing, restaurant, retail, and warehouse services industries.
In a matter of first impression before the court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held in Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority, Nos. 17-3508 and 18-2199 (June 12, 2019), that obesity is not a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) unless a plaintiff can demonstrate that it is caused by an underlying physiological disorder or condition. With the decision, the Seventh Circuit brought clarity to a novel issue previously unresolved for employers in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
The big legislative news in Illinois this spring concerned the passage of a law permitting marijuana for recreational use, beginning January 1, 2020. This development overshadowed other news affecting the construction industry—most notably, a failed attempt to make general contractors on every private project responsible for all unpaid wages to all workers.
More and more organizations are beginning to use or expand their use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and services in the workplace. Despite AI’s proven potential for enhancing efficiency and decision-making, it has raised a host of issues in the workplace which, in turn, have prompted an array of federal and state regulatory efforts that are likely to increase in the near future.
On May 29, 2019, the Illinois Senate passed Illinois House Bill (HB) 1438, which will legalize recreational marijuana in the state. This bill, known as the “Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act,” is expected to be signed into law by Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker, since he campaigned for office on a promise to legalize recreational marijuana.
After ending 2018 with a slew of new employment laws, Illinois continues to enact legislation impacting employers. Following the example set by California, Washington, and other states recently, the Illinois legislature passed four new bills targeting equity, transparency, and discrimination last week, and Governor J. B. Pritzker is expected to sign them into law.
On April 1, 2019, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied summary judgment in an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) case, determining that occasionally excusing employees from performing certain job functions does not render the function nonessential and finding that sharing tasks may be a reasonable accommodation.
On February 14, 2019, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 0001 (SB0001), which amends the Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the Illinois Income Tax Act.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in Rosenbach and reversed the appellate court’s decision that technical violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA” or “Act”) without “some actual injury or harm” are not actionable.
Overruling 35 years of precedent, the Illinois Supreme Court has held that buyers of newly constructed homes cannot sue subcontractors for breach of the implied warranty of habitability.
As we prepare to welcome 2019, Illinois employers must also prepare for new employment laws that afford greater rights and protections to employees.
In 2019, a number of states’ minimum wage rates will increase.
Effective January 1, 2019, the rights of Illinois employees serving in the military will be governed by the Illinois Service Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ISERRA), Public Act 100-1101.
Recent amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) broaden employee rights and impose new, immediate notice requirements on employers.
On October 18, 2018, the Illinois Supreme Court clarified when the statute of limitations begins to run on a claim for negligent procurement of insurance by an insurance agent or broker.
The Department of Justice has finally broken its long silence on website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the news is both good and bad.
The subcontractor’s sworn statement is one of most effective tools that contractors can use to ensure that lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers receive adequate payment throughout the job, yet many contractors either fail to appreciate how the sworn statement works or simply fail to utilize it, thereby increasing their risk of mechanics liens, bond claims, and double payments.
On August 26, 2018, Illinois amended the Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA) to include the requirement that employers reimburse employees for all expenses within the scope of their employment that are “directly related to services performed for [their] employer[s].”
